9/29/2015
Inside Line Promotions
Hagar Sweeps WAR Features at Hockett/McMillin Memorial
(Photo Courtesy of Derek Hagar Racing)
Inside Line Promotions – WHEATLAND, Mo. (Sept. 29, 2015) – Derek Hagar enjoyed a dream performance last weekend during the 5th annual Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway.
Hagar swept the WAR nonwing portion of the doubleheader to give him 11 feature victories this season and he finished second both nights with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour, which gives him 14 podiums in his last 15 races.
“It turned out to be a great weekend,” he said. “It was almost perfect. We had two good runs in the winged car and followed it up with two great runs in the nonwing car both nights. It was one of the best weekends we’ve had running two cars. With jumping out of one car and into the other with no support classes in between, that takes a toll. It felt pretty amazing to have the consistent weekend like that.”
The competition began last Friday with Hagar winning a Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour heat race after starting on the outside of the front row. That ranked Hagar ninth in overall points – only one spot out of the feature redraw – and lined him up on the inside of the fifth row for the main event.
“We had a long green flag run and I passed a couple of cars and had some strong moves on some cars,” he said. “I looked at the leader board fairly late in the race and saw we were in third. We had a couple late-race cautions and one final one without any lapped cars between me and second place. It gave me free sailing for a slide job in turns one and two to take over second. I slid him on the last restart. He got underneath me and we drag raced to the white flag. I got back by him on the last lap.”
Hagar’s second-place finish was enough to lock him into Saturday’s feature redraw, where he pulled the highest number – eight – during the random redraw to start on the outside of the fourth row.
“We avoided some carnage on the start of the race,” he said. “There were a lot of mind games on the start and it tore up a bunch of cars. That put us to fifth by the time we had a clean start. We had a really good car. We were just too good early to make anything happen at the end of the race.”
Hagar once again captured second place to tie his season-best result with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour.
Hagar landed in the Winner’s Circle both nights in a nonwing car owned by Jack Hockett and David Korte. After maneuvering from seventh to win a heat race on Friday, Hagar pulled the highest number – six – for the feature redraw to start the main event on the outside of the third row.
“They reworked the track after the winged race,” he said. “It gave us two great lanes of racing. Everybody was piling on the bottom and so I was picking them off on the top. I didn’t want to show my nose to Casey Shuman too early. We had a caution and he was told to go to the top so I had to figure out another game plan. We did a slider in turns three and four midway through the race and got around him.”
Hagar held on for the victory, which locked him into Saturday’s feature redraw. This time he pulled the second-highest number – five – to line up on the inside of the third row.
“Lucas Oil Speedway does a great job giving us a great race track,” he said. “That night they only reworked the bottom. I was worried it’d be one lane around there. I tried to go to the top to and ended up losing a couple of positions early. We had a caution and I got back on the bottom. I decided to try to roll around people in the middle of the corner and it started working. I did that by about everybody and took the lead on Lap 14 or 15 and led the last 10 laps.”
Hagar’s win continues his momentum into this Saturday’s Fall Nationals at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., where he has two victories this season.
QUICK RESULTS –
Sept. 25 – Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. (winged sprint) – Heat race: 1 (2); Feature: 2 (9).
Sept. 25 – Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. (nonwing sprint) – Heat race: 1 (7); Feature: 1 (6).
Sept. 26 – Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. (winged sprint) – Feature: 2 (8).
Sept. 26 – Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. (nonwing sprint) – Feature: 1 (5).
SEASON STATS –
41 races, 11 wins, 29 top fives, 33 top 10s, 33 top 15s, 36 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., for the Fall Nationals
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.DerekHagarRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HagarDerek
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Fragola Performance Systems
Housed in Southington, Conn., Fragola Performance Systems manufactures fittings, lines and hoses for the racing industry. For more information, visit http://www.FragolaPerformanceSystems.com.
“Fragola Performance Systems are all in all a good fitting and line manufacturer,” Hagar said. “They make really good lightweight hose. I prefer them over anybody else as far as a good pressure hose.”
Hagar would also like to thank Dynotech Performance, DHR Suspension, J&J Auto Racing, Xtreme Racing Graphics, FSR Radiators, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Hinchman Racewear, Wings Unlimited, FK Rod Ends, R.E. Enterprises, Ti64 and B&D Towing for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
Article Credit: Inside Line Promotions
Submitted By: Shawn Miller
